Comments for My Strong Medicine

Comment on Nurses | Here is why we do what we do by Sean

Sean — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:23:41 +0000

it absolutely was!!!

Comment on Nurses | Here is why we do what we do by Kim McAllister

Kim McAllister — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:34:00 +0000

Wasn’t this the most amazing thing ever? I had chills AND I needed Kleenex by the time it was done. Unbelievable.

Comment on Thousands of California nurses stage a one-day strike by princess

princess — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:45:23 +0000

Unfortunately, that is the way health care is going, almost every blog, every nurse etc that i speak with , or read about, we are still striving for safer nurse-patient ratios. I dont see it happening. Even when things happen bc of it, they dont listen, its only one case out of how many. its only about saving a dollar and if they have seen you can do it, they will be assured that it can be done again. Complaining anymore only makes you the squeaky wheel, the one they watch. Unless you have numbers of nurses . We have unsafe staffing papers that we fill out if we feel “unsafe” , they dont do anything about it, but if something happened during that shift, its documented that you felt unsafe. Problem is you are sooo damn busy that you forget to fill out the stupid form lol.

Comment on The sixth (sick) sense by princess

princess — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:40:48 +0000

Its so true, all the numbers can be right, the cxray is fine, etc but the patient just doesnt look right. I always learned to look at the patient, not the numbers and im glad i always stayed true to it. Granted, ive been wrong a few times, but 95% of the time, im dead on. “i just have a feeling, or somethings not right, he doesnt look good” Sometimes, docs listen to you, since im a seasoned critical care nurse, our docs trust us and when we say its not good, they trust us, half the docs are so new anyhow. So definately go with your gut, dont be afraid of your six sense. Better safe than sorry. And if you dont have it yet, you’ll figure it out, just remember- always look at the patient!

Comment on Visiting hours? by princess

princess — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 02:36:01 +0000

That is a huge issue, in our ICU we used to have 4 sets of 1/2 hour visits throughout the day. About 3-4 yrs ago we went to open visiting hours. It is horrible. The families are all in your business, totally distracting the care , while you are trying to give meds or chart in the room, everyone in the room(can be whomever) can see the pts meds and charting b/c we have computer screens in the room. They dont leave, they sit at the door and stare out at what is going on in the unit. They hear things that arent about them but they think they are, and the patients dont know how to say please leave, often i have to do it. I mean who wants aunt mary coming to visit you when you are deathly ill in the icu only to gawk and stare, and ask STUPID questions that are really none of their business. Our sister hosipital has locked doors, now thats more like it. Anyone can just walk right in, whenever they want and get in our way. Half the time they think they should stay in the room when we are changing their parents etcs shit. I mean how about some dignity. As you can see i feel so strong about this as do alot of other seasoned nurses out there. It is an invasion of privacy. I probably could have said this better. I mean i dont object all the time but it should be the exception not the rule. Big problem is that its going to stay this way b/c now hospital nursing is all about pleasing the Family first , then the patients care. they actually deter alot of nurses from going in the room if they dont need to. Sorry to rant here but its just a touchy subject, and another dig at nurses where we have no say and are watched 24/7 by eyes that dont know what they are looking at!!!!

Comment on Tube Feeding folklore by princess

princess — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 02:28:10 +0000

we have 2 options, you can use a fecal management system which is invasive, you can put it in at bedside but it can only stay in for a month , and the second is the regular rectal bag- which you dont need an order for. gotta make sure that the stool is liquid enough or it wont go through the tubing and the bag will blow off, not pretty!!!

Comment on Tube Feeding folklore by Sean

Sean — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 09:42:47 +0000

I never thought of that� thanks!

Comment on Tube Feeding folklore by Dina

Dina — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 02:33:12 +0000

Make sure your patients are getting probiotics…it is so frequently overlooked! Florastor is a great one…it dissolves nicely in warm water making it pass through those tiny FMTs nicely! And we institute rectal tubes for persistent diarrhea. We use the Dignicare brand which seems to work well.

Comment on To iPad or not to iPad… THAT is the question by Sean

Sean — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:20:42 +0000

Anything and everything that is iOS is worth the learning curve… take it from someone who walked in your shoes.
It’s worth it.

Comment on To iPad or not to iPad… THAT is the question by Trisha RN

Trisha RN — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:07:14 +0000

Struggling with this decision as well..perhaps I’m becoming an old lady but I have a bberry, still married to outlook and microsoft line, must multi-task, etc. I’ve never used an apple product..some of my IT folks swear by it but I continue to avoid like the plague. Now I’m trying to decide iPAD or Bberry playbook? Would life not be easier using bberry product for sync or is iPAD worth my learning curve?